For those needing a post-Thanksgiving
respite, the Cobourg Poetry Workshop is presenting, on Tuesday evening
October 13, an opportunity to hear two guest poets; Paul Durcan, considered
by many to be Ireland's finest living poet, and Montreal poet, critic
and essayist, Carmine Starnino. With Cobourg rapidly becoming a sought-after
venue for out-of-town-poets, this double-bill is an occasion to die
for. Durcan, winner of Britains's prestigious Whitbread Prize for poetry,
is in Canada to read twice at this month's International Festival of
Authors at Toronto's Harbourfront, but has been lured to read in Cobourg
first. Starnino is making a return visit to Cobourg following his appearance
at this year's inaugural POW! Festival.

"People familiar with
the Canadian poetry scene will know that having Carmine Starnino coming
from Montreal to read here is a very big deal." says Workshop member
and founder of the POW! Festival, James Pickersgill. "For people
interested in poetry anywhere on the planet, hearing that Paul Durcan
is coming from Dublin to read in Cobourg is like a rock fan hearing
that U2 will be doing a concert at the Jack Heenan Arena. It's huge."

Durcan started writing stories
when he was 12 years old. By age 14 he was writing poetry and hasn't
stopped. Despite his success, there are critics who dismiss him as "essentially
popular". Critic Erik Martiny, commenting on Durcan's book, The
Art of Life, says "... he has become the closest one can get
to the almost extinct notion of a bestselling poet. Perhaps it is this
perceived 'populism' that has caused academic criticism to largely disregard
him." In riposte, Durcan can point to over 20 published books as
well as the just-published Life Is A Dream, a collection of 40
years of poems, from which Durcan will be reading in Cobourg. "Some
critics can be venmous." says Durcan. "They must lead a barren
existence. But, you know, one shouldn't write to gain the attention
of academia. One writes poems to be read as widely as possible. The
ideal situation is reading to an audience such as you have in Cobourg."

Carmine Starnino wrote his first poem in a fit of poetical pique. "I
was in Grade 12 and our English teacher lent me an anthology of student
poetry. I thought, 'I can do better than that.' A couple of hours later
I had a Very Serious Poem which ended by calling the soul - and these
lines are all that I can remember - "a point of singularity/surrounded
by the infinite." I was only 17 and a virgin poet." Starnino
won the 2001Canadian Authors Prize for his book, Credo. Also
known for the provocative nature of his criticism, his most recent book
is This Way Out. What triggers his writing process? "Anything
and everything. In This Way Out there's an ode to squash racquets,
inspired by a thrashing at the hands of a friend. I'm a marginally better
poet than squash player."

This event, to be held at
Meet at 66 King Street East, starting at 7.00pm, replaces the regular
3rd Thursday Poetry Readings for just this month. "People from
Guelph to Kingston look to what we are able to do in Cobourg."
says Pickersgill. "An event like this is extraordinary. Someone
asked, 'Only in Cobourg?' You bet."